1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of optical character readers, which are used to electronically recognize printed characters. Specifically, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for feeding a paper sheet or the like past an optical character reader.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Optical character readers are commonly used for such purposes as loading text from printed sheets into word processing and retrieval systems or the like.
The common optical character reader (OCR) operates by scanning the region on a sheet of paper or the like on which a character is printed. Usually, the image of the character and the surrounding space on the paper is focused by means of a lens onto an array of photoelectric transducers. In this way, a microprocessor inside the OCR can recognize the character by comparing the light and dark portions of the scanned area with a reference matrix that is stored in a memory chip in the OCR.
Since each character must be individually scanned and recognized by the OCR, the OCR must be physically repositioned along the line of print each time a character is to be read. Such positioning has proved to be a problem though, since most OCRs are unable to recognize a character if they are inclined, even a slight amount, with respect to the line of print that is to be scanned. Since the scanning is usually performed manually, efficient scanning has in the past required an inordinate amount of patience and skill on the part of the operator. Clearly, there exists a long and unfilled need in the prior art for an inexpensive device for use in aiding an OCR operator to scan a printed page without missing any characters.